Tragedy in Hamlet: Act 3 Scene 4 and Act 4

Act 3 Scene 4
Hamlet talks with mother after requested to but is suspicious of eavesdropping since it has happened countless times recently so he goes to hurt mother  as a ploy to catch the spy (believing its Claudius when in fact it's Polonius). The spy send a cry for help so Hamlet kills him.he may possibly belive it's Claudius since who else would be in her chamber unless she is committing adultery; he stabs who he belives is Claudius because this would finally mean he has taken revenge.... he couldnt complete this action earlier since Claudius was praying but spying would be a sin so it would send Claudius to hell which is what Hamlet initially wants. This is a new tragic element to the play as Polonius is Leartes and Ophelias father so the news of his murder will hurt badly especially for ophelia since Hamlet is effectively her boyfriend.... this will cause a conflicting internal element; will she continue to loyally love Hamlet? this news will definately cause a greater heartbreak.This can also be seen as a tragic moment for Ophelia and in some elements the denmark since Polonius was such a respected figure within the public so this will be a great loss for them, and for Gertrude its a tragic moment since it's her beloved son that has slain Polonius and she knows he has committed an awful crime that may result in the loss of his life;she cannot lose her son so soon after the death of her husband. Even when Hamlet realises that he has in fact killed Polonius he shows no inclination of remorse-he doesnt care that he has killed an important figure in Denmark who is also his girlfriends father. (this has caused major future problems for Hamlet, he's now a cold blooded killer and there is no justifications for his actions).

Hamlet then continues to let loose on his mother,finally venting all his disgust towards her, he has a go at her for marrying Claudius and basically fogetting his dear father (betrayed him). He uses hell as imagery for what she has done ( her virtue has melted like wax) her incestous passion will cause her to go to hell.Hamlet continues to use very rich imagery to display his hurt and anger by saying "in the rank sweat of an enseamed bed,stewed in corruption,honeyed andmaking love over the nasty sty" (sty being Claudius) and although he has badly upset Gertrude she still acts tender towards him by saying "sweet Hamlet".

The appearence of Hamlets madness then thickens when the ghost of his Father then appears but only to Hamlet, the queen believes he has gone mad since she cant see the ghost;she belives the old tragedy has altered him so badly that he has resorted to halucinations of his dad as a way of comfort.

Hamlet then concludes to his mother not to do anything with Claudius when they are alone in their chamber snd to remind Claudius he is plotting against him (he will take revenge!).he says " I essentially am not in madness,but mad in craft"-he's not really mad in the mind but he demonstrates lunacy through behaviour on purpose. he also reminds her that he is being sent to England so it doesnt matter ; they will be free of his lunacy soon.The scene then ends with Hamlet dragging Polonius's body from her chamber (emphasizing his mad behaviour).This scene is a major development for the play.... Hamlet find out the ghost in fact speaks the truth, he finally vents to his mother and causes major tragedy for many other characters.

Act 4

Scene 1
This new act starts with Gertrude recapping the previous incidents with Claudius who then tells Rosencratz and Guildenstein to find Hamlet and take Polonius's body to the chapel (Gertrude had told Claudius Hamlet has taken the body to cut it up " to draw apart the body he hath killed") If this case is true Hamlet has acted in a way that he may see appropriate however if true it means that Polonius cannot be given the respected burial where his family etc can say goodbye it also means the body wont be in the natural state which may greatly upset his children intensifying the recent loss and tragedy they have been subject to. However even though Hamlet has acted extremely bad gertrude still attempts to defend her son by saying it's not his fault, the madness has done this " O'er whom his very madness", she is trying to protect her son because she knows he must pay the consequences for his crimes. She is in a true dilemma,Hamlet needs to be punished by Claudius since it's his duty as the king but who will she be loyal to: Claudius the man she has sworn to be loyal to or her own son? This is a major problem that she will struggle with which will most likely cause her anger and great upset in the future development.

Scene 2
Hamlet refuses to tell Rosencratz and Guildenstein where Polonius is, he will only tell the king so he requests to be taken to him. He also plays on his lunacy to these characters to either play the part he is trying to deliver or because he has actually turned mad. There is no real tragedy within this scene as it's extremely short so no chance of a proper development.

Scene 3
When Hamlet is taken to Claudius he admits that he has buried Polonius's body and says he is now being eaten by worms;which is the circle of life " your worm is your only emperor for diet. we fat all creatures else to fat us,and we fat ourselves for maggots". uses very strong imagery to emphasize his madness and not just in the previously mentioned case,Hamlet carries on to say "a man may fish with the worm that hath eat of king,and eat of the fish that hath fed of the worm" meaning that essentially everyone eats each other.By saying this Hamlet isn't being very cautious or sensitive to others and may offend or upset people which worsens the effects of the tragedy.

Hamlet is then told that the ship is ready to send him to England by Claudius who then appoints attendants to escort him away. Claudius then has another soliloquy where he admits a sort of triumph over Hamlet since he has sent a letter to England telling them to execute Hamlet once he arrives.Claudius wont be happy until he has gotten revenge and Hamlet is dead.He says Hamlet is a disease to Denmark. The fact that Claudius has done this though will cause major upset and tragedy for his wife since that is her son.... he would have murdered both her husband and son who are also his blood relations.

Scene 4
Hamlet has another soliloquy; he just spoke to Fortinbras and the captain.Fortinbras plans revenge over his uncles death,army is assembled and waiting; they want land (the land is worthless but they want the name it comes with).It makes Hamlet realize that he needs to take action now, he has upset his mother and with his father stuck in purgatory he feels he has failed.a major problem though is that he is leaving;its a big debate in his head with many tormenting thoughts.The old tragedy is still lingering in his mind constantly... he still cannot progress and move forward with his life,it may even destroy him.

Scene 5
Ophelia has recently gone insane because of the tragic death of her father,she cries over trivial things, is unstable and talks utter nonsense.In this scene she approaches Claudius and Gertrude singing about her and Hamlets treatment and also uses vulgar language. The tragedy has effected her so much she has completely lost herself;behaving in inappropriate ways but its not just the tragic loss of her father... its also because it was at Hamlets doing; this news would have been devastating and traumatic to hear that both factors must have simply tipped her over the edge.Claudius then tells Horatio to keep an eye on her after witnessing her mad behaviours.He pities her since she can't deal with problems and Leartes is still away;she's all alone and cant cope.

However Leartes suddenly returns to Denmark after hearing the news of the loss of his father and the country embraces him; They want him to be king.Claudius has no support by his people which must emphasize how shit of a king he makes. Leartes breaks into the castle with his followers and orders to see the king alone; he is extremely angry.Claudius tells him that his father is dead and at that point the queen immediately jumps in and informs Leartes it's not at Claudius's hand.Leartes declares he will take revenge which allows Claudius to jump at this opportunity thats been presented  and shows his support; he manipulates Leartes and clears his name (tells him it was Hamlet).

Ophelia then appears and Leartes witnesses her true madness first hand (more tragedy for Leartes,basically lost his sister as well) which leaves him in utter shock; he doesn't know how to deal with this factor on top of the recent tragic death of his father and we know this because he says " do you see this? O God!" You can see the major contrast between both siblings on how they deal with tragic life changing news. Ophelia completely breaks down into a state of lunacy whereas Leartes is a man who takes action and vows revenge even if it is his sisters love. This shows how although they are related Ophelia is in a much weaker state and cannot cope whereas Leartes is a much stronger willed being who has great characteristics to be a good leader and warrior.

This now leaves the story with many schemes of revenge; the tragedy has led characters into such a rage they all vow revenge to solve their vendettas against each other (which was all started by Hamlet Sr..) Leartes, Fortinbras, Claudius and Hamlet but how will the story develop? who will actually succeed in finishing what they started and defeating their foe (which in a way will mean they also defeat the tragedy).

Scene 6
 Hamlet writes a letter to horatio to inform him of events that have unravelled , Hamlet now sounds extremely sane in comparison to his recent mad behaviour.Hamlet shows cowardice  throughout the play whereas from the letter he is portrayed as a man of action (he was captured by pirates and managed to persuade them to let him free) The letter has a calm mannerism about it as if the events didnt phase him.This behaviour displayed isnt like Hamlets previous portrayal so it makes me question if these events are actually real; Hamlet does love dramatic plays so maybe he has exageratted actual events i.e he saw a fishing boat and jumped onto it.there is no change to any previous tagedies and no real tragedies emerge in this scene.

Scene 7
Leartes is aggrivated, tragic events of the death of his father and Ophelias lunacy have occured, he blames Hamlet for both of these tragedies and Hamlet was pretty much let off (sent to England) so he's having a go at Claudius.Claudius says that he couldn't do anything else because in the publics eyes Hamlet  can do no wrong and he also tells Leartes that he greatly misses Polonius as a way to calm him down.

A messenger then arrives (dramatic irony on the characters which brings tragedy to leartes)After learning Hamlet has escaped he conjures a plan to kill Hamlet which enables him to take revenge (the only way the male characters seem to deal with tragedy)Claudius has manipulated Leartes and blamed all problems on Hamlet i.e the muders and for the state of Denmark, he says that Hamlet did it because he is Jealous of Leartes etc... Claudius is praising Leartes by saying he's a good swordsman (sucking up to him).They create a plan to kill him in a non-ovbious way.Decide to have a duel between Leartes and Hamlet (Hamlet is cowardly whereas Leartes takes the warrior route) Leartes will then poison the end of Hamlets sword to secretly kill him-dramatic irony (Claudius used poison to kill Hamlets dad) However this plan shows that Leartes is a cheat, could this mean his an untrustworthy and weak person? For a back up plan they will also poison a drink that they will then hand to Hamlet.

Gertrude then enters the scene announcing Ophelia has drowned. This is a phenomenal tragedy for Leartes and Hamlet, both loved her unconditionally and have also dealt with major tragedies in their lives (Both losing their dads). Her death is described in a beautiful way, not a traumatic death ( naturalistic imagery).Leartes then says "to much water;hast thou, poor Ophelia and therefore i forbid my tears"  which basically means he wont shed a tear because too much water has been used and wasted (Ophelia drowned and used to cry all the time).Leartes has lost everyone, he has no others to care or grieve over.

Everyone was pent on revenge,now it's all coming back on them;theyre paying for their wrong doings.
Most of Ophelias parts are just background parts, she never has any important line and all of the happenings arent included in the play wer'e just told about them.Although this is the case the events have major upheavals...who is to blame for her death? could blame Claudius since he started the chain of tragic events or you could blame Hamlet since he drove her to heartbreak and so much misery eventually causing her lunacy.